His Different Stages
by JessObsess
Summary: Why does everyone keep trying to convince Perry Cox that he has feelings for his protege? They're absolutely wrong, of course. In fact, they're miles away from the hole. They're not even on the green. Right? JDCox. Rated T. New epilogue added!
1. Chapter One, His Denial

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**His Different Stages**

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by: **J-Scrubs**

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**Author's Note: Hey, all! This is my first Scrubs fanfiction. I've pretty much written a lot of it in my head. It took me like half an hour to decide whether or not to call Dr. Cox Perry or Dr. Cox. And I still haven't decided... Damn it. Maybe I'll call him Dr. Cox when he's at the hospital, and Perry when he's not. But Perry seems to fit more in the context in most of the paragraphs... Hmmm. This story is probably a bit cliche, but I had fun writing it, and I hope that you'll have fun reading it even it isn't the best writing. =P**

**Warnings: Relationships of the slashy form. If you don't like it, don't read it. Rated T.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Scrubs, or any of the characters. Le Sob.**

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**Chapter One; His Denial**

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Perry Cox stormed through the hallways of Sacred Heart Hospital, holding his stethoscope around his neck to keep it from falling off in his speedy state. Where was that idiot? Despite the fact that Dr. Cox had told him to only address him as "Doc," "Doctor," "Caesar," or "The Big Cheese" in front of patients, JD still let his patients know what his mentor was called - intentionally or unintentionally, it didn't matter. So JD had either gone momentarily deaf during Dr. Cox's "Do not refer to me as 'Dr. Cox'" rant, or he had a death wish. Either way, when Dr. Cox found JD he was going to have his ass handed to him. But what made Dr. Cox even angrier was that he hadn't even been angry when one of the kid's patients had him paged - there was only a small pang of annoyance in the back of his mind. Of course, even a small annoyance was enough for him to rant at "Newbie" for at least a solid minute.

But no, it wasn't just that "small annoyance" that had Dr. Cox stomping his way over to where JD stood at the nurse's station chatting with Carla and his blacker half, his eyes blazing. The main reason for Dr. Cox's anger was something that had occurred a few minutes before, when he'd been searching for JD in the hospital lobby. Apparently he had accidentally stumbled into Hell, though, as Satan herself had smiled mischievously and started to talk at him. He had just begun to tune out her voice and replace it with the sounds of waves and seagulls when she said something that nearly had him gagging at the though. Or at least, something that made him _feel_ like he should be gagging:

"_Now, PerPer, I have no idea as to why you are looking around like some puppy dog who just had his testicals removed and has to wear one of those cone things around his head, but I can only assume that you are looking for your little boy toy," Dr. Cox glared at Jordan. Damn, but the woman could rant nearly as well as him when she was up to it and on those rare occasions when she was actually able to move her face. Then, Jordan continued, "But eventually you're going to have to either give up on your disturbing little man-crush or make a damn move. Honestly, I don't care. You two can run off to Vegas and have a little gay marriage, if you want. All I ask is that you get back from the land of casinos, gambling and cheap wedding services by tomorrow. Jack is very adamant, for a two-year-old, about going to the zoo, and I have a Botox appointment."_

_Dr. Cox glared a moment longer before saying, "I so-ho do not have a "man-crush," as you so eloquently put it, on Carol."_

_Jordan just smirked and replied, "Interesting how you knew I was talking about Sally Sensitive, Per. I don't recall ever mentioning a name. Anyway, I'll need you to take Jack to the zoo by 12:00 tomorrow."_

Damn it, she always wins the arguments! _He was slightly confused by one of Jordan's comments - she must have used "DJ" or something else she called JD in her little speech before - so before he could react to her request (or command) about Jack and the zoo, Jordan was already walking away._

"_Come on, Jordan! I never get any time off!" He'd been geared up to rant at her, but she was already gone. Besides, it wasn't like Dr. Cox had any real objection to spending time with his son. He just didn't want to give Satan what she wanted. _

_He was still slightly bothered by what she'd said to him, though. How _had_ he known that she was talking about Newbie when she spoke of his "man-crush?"_

It could be that among my other God-like abilities, I am psychic. Yes. I'm sure that's it. _But even his self-reassurance of super powers could not stop the strange feeling that was bubbling up inside of him. Now, Dr. Cox had a gift - he could convert any emotion he felt, and transform it into anger. Yes, he was very talented when it came to feeling-converting._

That was how he found himself angry-walking his way over to where JD was chit-chatting with Carla and Turk.

"Rebecca!" he shouted. "Now, I'm not sure if you realized this in the midst of gossiping about your new crush and how his girlfriend's darling 'do is really a wig, but I'm guessing you did realize that I would eventually kill you for once again telling one of your patients my name. For the last time, I don't care if they are flinging tomatoes at you and demanding to know what the names of your superiors are, it's "The Big Cheese," damn it!" He slammed a chart down on the counter.

JD, though he had been prepared, still jumped when the chart made contact with the counter of the nurse's station, but after he got over the shock, a thoughtful look crossed over his face for a few seconds. When he finally snapped out of it, he giggled wildly before saying, "You totally just sounded like Dr. Beardface!"

Just then, Seymour, who had been standing a few feet away speaking with Colonel Doctor, yelled "It's Beardfaçè, damnit!"

JD struggled to calm his laughter as Dr. Cox's eyes got even wider and crazy-animal-about-to-attack-er than before and he said, "Excuse me there, Charlotte?"

JD was unable to hold in a laugh then, and he and Turk both burst out in a fit of giggles. "You said, "It's 'The Big Cheese,' damn it!" That's what Dr. Beardface always sounds like," JD turned to his best friend, who was still giggling. "Right, Choco?"

Turk managed to control his laughter long enough to say, "Totally, J-Dawg." After backing up his friend, the black surgeon turned to his wife (as of that month), gave her a quick kiss, high-fived JD, and left for his next surgery.

"See, even Turk agree-"

"Kayla, it is so very important to your future here on Earth that you do not finish that sentence," Dr. Cox continued glaring at the young doctor before him. _Jordan thinks I have a man-crush_ _(and I use the term 'man' loosely)_ _on _this_? Good Lord, did Dr. Bernsfield inject _heroine_ into her face at her last appointment?_

"Anyway, about my patient. I never told her your name. Jenny must have just overheard me and Turk talking about you outside her room." JD had a look of innocence on his face that could not be feigned.

At hearing JD's words, the thought "What were they saying about me?" flashed through Dr. Cox's mind, quickly followed by "Why do I care?" and "I don't."

Carla watched the interaction between the two men, noticing things that, being the mother hen she was, no one else would notice, like how when JD spoke, Dr. Cox's eyes lingered on his lips for just a millisecond longer than they should have. She also noticed how Dr. Cox wouldn't even be frantic or embarrassed when he looked away. It was like he didn't even realize he was doing it. JD was, of course, oblivious to both that and how Carla was watching them both intently.

"_How_, _where_, and _when_ that little girl found out are irrelevant. The fact is, she found out from you, so you are officially the one at fault. Congratulations. Sadly, I don't have a prize for you." Dr. Cox clenched his jaw.

"Come on, Dr. Cox. She's an eleven year old girl in a hospital." JD tried reasoning with Dr. Cox.

"That girl has had me paged six times in the past hour, Jazmen. I re-healy don't care how old she is at the moment. Or at any moment, for that matter."

JD surprised everyone with that he did next. "She has_ leukemia_, Dr. Cox, so let me apologize for her if her attempt at having some fun and taking her mind off of that fact by pranking you interrupted your daily mirror-gaze-flexathon. God, _Perry_, you don't have to be such a hard-ass all the time." With that, JD turned and stormed (fled) from the area.

Dr. Cox, as well as anyone who had overheard, stood still and shocked for a moment, before finding some excuse to leave and avoid the angry hurricane that was Dr. Cox after being ranted at by his protègé. At least, all except Carla ran for their lives.

Luckily for Carla, at the moment she seemed to be in the eye of the storm, as Dr. Cox still stood there, shocked. What was with people throwing his signature rants back at him today? Dr. Cox had a lot of signature things (nose-flick, blinkie-warning-light), but he was most attached to his rants. For other people to be doing them . . . well, he did not like that one bit. He leaned onto the nurse's station counter and stared as JD stepped into the slowest elevator in history down the hall.

"I can't believe this . . ." Dr. Cox muttered bitterly, glancing up to see the smug and smirking face of the one nearly tolerable person in the hospital, Nurse Carla Espinosa-Turk.

"Can't believe what, Dr. Cox? " she asked, still staring at him with that _look_, like she knew something he didn't, but should. "The fact that Bambi just beat you at your own game, or the fact that I just watched you watching him leave. Take your pick, because both are very unbelievable, but both are very, very true."

" I was so-ho not- "Dr. Cox began incredulously, but was interrupted by Carla.

"Now, have you ever noticed how Bambi kind of sways his tooshie in this cute and _alluring_ way when he walks?"

"Ye- " Dr. Cox stopped. Where the hell had that come from? He did _not_ notice that. As the smug look crossed Carla's face again, he shouted, "No!" This loud correction startled Carla, he noted proudly.

"O-okay then. Anyway, I heard about your little fun-filled conversation with Jordan earlier." And the annoying smirk was back.

Dr. Cox glared at her. "Who the _hell_ told you?"

Gossip traveled fast in this hospital, but not that fast. What she was talking about had happened less than ten minutes before. How had Carla found out already? His question was answered as Carla pointed to Laverne, who had apparently come back to the nurse's station after realizing that Dr. Cox wasn't going to explode.

Dr. Cox's throat was rumbling with the beginnings of a growl when Carla said, "I agree with Jordan." Dr. Cox looked at her, not believing what he was hearing. Seeing Dr. Cox's incredulous expression, Carla continued. "Yeah. Why else would you let him follow you around every day? Why else would you always make it such a point to call him girl's names all the time? You have to admit, he's the only one you consistently do that to."

Laverne jumped in to add a very effective contribution to the conversation. "Mmhmm."

"It's exactly like the first grade boy pulling his little crush's pigtails on the playground, except with more hair-styling products!"

This last part of Carla's speech caused Dr. Cox to snort. "Did you ever consider the fact that maybe, just maybe, I let him follow me around so that his clumsy self won't trip over and disconnect every heart monitor in this god-forsaken hospital? And that maybe, there was just even the slightest possibility that I call him girl's names because he is, in fact, the girliest straight man alive? No, scratch that. He is the girliest of any man alive, period. Even non-straight men, who can get pretty girly." With that, Dr. Cox stormed away, leaving Carla and LaVerne to share a knowing glance.

"Girlfriend, I don't even think that man realizes it yet," said Laverne.

"He definitely doesn't. But I'm going to make him, eventually," the Latina nurse replied.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't try to force him to recognize."

"Sometimes with Perry, you just gotta give him a push. Damn, that man and his denial."

Because that's what it was. His denial. Laverne was organizing all of this juiciness in her head, when something else that seemed like good gossip came to her. "What was up Q-Tip's butt earlier? I've never seen him go off like that before."

Carla had only once, and that was the time when he had yelled at her, Turk, Dr. Cox and Elliot for being so stupid in their relationships. Out loud, she said, "You know that patient Dr. Cox was talking about, Jenny Carlton?"

Laverne nodded eagerly, her hand already inching towards the phone.

"Well, Bambi has become really attached to her. He's really worried about how her surgery in two days is going to go, because she's never had one before. He told Turk that she is one of his favorite patients. Says she's really brave."

"I've seen that girl. Very cute and sweet. What's she having surgery for, though? Leukemia patients don't normally, do they?"

Carla sighed. "She's not here for her leukemia, obviously, since JD's not an oncologist. She was in a car crash, so they need to perform surgery to check for internal damage."

"Why wouldn't they just do an MRI or CT?"

"She has a metal pin in her neck. It would be ripped out of her so fast she wouldn't even have time to say "turn this damn thing off!""

"Well, anything that happens is all just part of God's grand scheme of things."

Carla nodded. She wasn't a very religious person, but she respected Laverne's opinion. After all, her husband also believed that everything was set up for them. She sighed, then said, "Well, I'm going to go check on how my baby is doing in surgery."

Laverne smiled, nearly trembling with excitement. As soon as Carla was out of sight, she lunged for the phone and dialed for home. "Yeah, sweetie. You'll never believe what's been going on today. Mmhmm."

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**End Chapter One!**

**Author's Note II: Hope you liked it! I hope everyone was in character, I like to think they were. But give me some feedback in your reviews! I'm not really sure if I liked the ending, but I had to explain why JD was acting that way, so that he didn't seem too OOC. I think it's a possibility in the show for him to get angry at Dr. Cox for being so uncaring about a patient that he really likes. I hope you all feel the same, but if not, feel free to put it in a review. Anyway, I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible.**

**Author's Note III: Just FYI, if anyone reviews to complain about the slash-ness of this story, I will personally hunt you down. Well, not really. But I will berate you in the next chapter. Wheee, fun, fun!**

**Author's note IIII: Sorry if my medical knowledge sucks, but the only things I really know are the ABSOLUTE basics, and everything I remember on House. In Jenny Carlton's case, there was nothing in either basics or House to go by, because usually the only car crashes on House MD are caused by the plague, or something. Which I lurve. =]**

**- Jess**


	2. Chapter Two, His Anger

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**His** **Different Stages**

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by: **J-Scrubs**

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**Author's Note: Yee-haw! Chapter Two, wootness! I hope you all enjoy it! This story takes place around the beginning of Season 4. Elliot is mad at JD for getting her to dump Sean then dumping her, and Turk and Carla have just recently gotten married. But I've tweaked Jordan and Perry's relationship a bit. They are together because of Jack, and only Jack. They still sleep together, but it's more like how when it was just meaningless post-divorce sex romps. That's convenient for me and this story, is it not? =]**

**Also, thank you all for the reviews! They all made me vair, vair happy. =D**

**Warnings: Relationships of the slashy form. Don't like it, don't read it. And some people may be offended by some very un-classy remarks that JD makes, like always.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Scrubs . . . Well, no. I'm not going to go there, since I DON'T own Scrubs and that will just make me sad. **

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**Chapter Two ; His Anger**

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JD glanced up at the clock above his comatose patient's head. 3:00 PM. His shift was over in three hours, but he'd been at the hospital for over twenty-four hours and hadn't managed to get more than three hours of sleep in bits and pieces during that time. He was just now getting to eat his lunch, though he didn't want to be in the cafeteria because Turk and Carla had already eaten. Elliot was still mad at him for luring her away from her perfect boyfriend, too, so eating with her was a no-no. On another day, JD might have tried eating with Dr. Cox. He couldn't today for two reasons, though. One, it was the older doctor's day off. Two, JD wasn't in any hurry to see Dr. Cox after his outburst the day before, so he had been hiding. Walking up to the older man at a lunch table would sort of defeat the purpose of said cowering in the nooks and crannies of the hospital.

"So he was ragging on me about this patient I have, and I just exploded. She's such a good little kid though, and she was just trying to have a little fun by screwing with him. I guess I _am_ a little relieved he took it out on me instead of going to her, though," JD sighed, taking a bite of his chicken salad sandwich. He felt kind of strange, talking to a the comatose man before him like he was his best friend. But he had always found that it was easier to talk to someone who was unconscious. There were no judgements.

Besides, JD was one of the doctors who believed that coma patients could hear what was going on around them, so maybe he was saving the patient from incredible mind-numbing boredom and monotony. He kept going, after finishing his bite, "I managed to hide from Dr. Cox for the rest of the day yesterday, but were both going to be here tomorrow. I'm not sure if I can avoid him another day. He's going to kill me for humiliating him in front of everyone. Oh he'll at least put me in a coma, like you," JD chuckled, then tilted his head to the side.

-- The comatose man groans, and JD pounces out of his chair excitedly, running over to the patient's bedside. He immediately jumps into action as the man chokes on the breathing tube currently down his throat.

"Cough," JD commands in a doctorally tone of voice, then pulls the breathing tube out when the patient complies. JD is just getting ready to ask the patient's name to check for any complications or brain problems that could have come from the lack of oxygen that brought him here in the first place, when suddenly the patient reaches up to grasp at JD's throat.

"You think it's _funny_ that I've been asleep for the past six weeks?" --

JD snapped out of his daydream, nearly dropping his sandwich in relief as he saw that the man was still lying in his hospital bed, and not choking him. "I'm sorry, sir. That was an incredibly insensitive thing to say."

JD finished eating in silence, still slightly shaken up by his daydream, before saying goodbye to the patient and leaving the room.

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Dr. Cox drummed a random beat on his steering wheel impatiently as he waited for the light to turn green. He was on the way home from the zoo with his son, Jack. Recalling a moment from earlier at the zoo, where he'd thought Jack had disappeared only to find him standing on his other side, Dr. Cox realized he was becoming one of those obsessively annoying parents who worried over every little thing to do with their children. But despite this disturbing realization, he had been grateful for the distraction the zoo had been.

The news of his "crush" on JD had spread through the hospital like wildfire, which wasn't surprising considering Laverne had known about it. The day before had been full of "good luck"s, "I always knew you couldn't be fully straight, I mean you do work out a lot!"s and laughter (mostly from Bob Kelso.) All of this just served to piss Dr. Cox off supremely, and he hoped that JD hadn't heard from anyone.

_God, the kid already thinks we're bestest buddies, how they hell would he act if he thought I like him in that way? He'd probably be horrified, and never speak to me again . . .which wouldn't be that big of a deal, would it? Right? Lord, Perry, you can't even manage to convince _yourself_ that you'd completely enjoy it if he started avoiding you._ Dr. Cox chuckled bitterly, but was snapped out of his thoughts by the loud blaring of a horn. His head snapped up, and he checked to make sure the sound hadn't woken his son, before turning to the road. _Green light. Crap._

Dr. Cox's apartment was only a few blocks away, and when he pulled into the parking lot he could already see Jordan's Miata. He groaned, making sure to keep his voice low so as to not wake Jack. Dr. Cox was not in the mood to be harassed about JD at home, but he was certain that Jordan wouldn't let him even turn on the TV without popping out her claws and scraping away any shreds of peace he'd felt at the zoo earlier.

He stepped out of the car, then somehow managed to take Jack out of his car-seat, still without waking the boy.

The moment he reached his apartment, shifted Jack on his shoulder, and unlocked his apartment door and stepped inside, he knew that another few hours of peace were too much to ask for.

"Well, if it isn't my not-so heterosexual ex-husband and our love-child. Back from the zoo already? Do tell, did you manage to find any rainbow fish?"

Dr. Cox groaned inwardly. It was going to be a long night.

--

Dr. Cox suppressed a grunt of pain as the hospital double-doors slammed behind him when he walked in for his shift at 7:00 A.M. the next day. The night before, Jordan's incessant shots at him had led him to rant very loudly at her (waking his son), storm out of the house to a bar for four hours, then collapse drunkenly onto the couch when he got home for the night.

As JD would say, he now had a hangover that would slay a walrus.

_Don't think about that idiotic man-boy. This is all his fault to begin with._

Dr. Cox wasn't really sure if his reasoning for blaming JD made sense (mainly, it was all JD's fault because he existed and he had a nice tush _no, no, he doesn't. He does no-hot._), but at the moment, he didn't care. Maybe everyone had already forgotten about the rumor Jordan had started. Dr. Cox was started from his thoughts when, in a flash of blonde hair and light-blue scrubs, Elliot was suddenly standing in front of him.

"Barbie," he greeted her reluctantly, as it didn't seem she would move out of his way without first saying what she was here to.

"He doesn't deserve to be loved! He is a horrible person, and he will break what little is left of your heart too!" Elliot screeched, shaking her head angrily. This movement caused her bangs to fall in front of her eyes, and she blew them away.

"Who doesn't?" Dr. Cox cringed at the pitch in her voice. He knew who she was talking about, but refused to indulge her.

"You know who I mean!" Elliot glared at him in one of her rare moments of courage. "JD! He's a jerk. Jerk, jerk! Jerk, jerk, jerk, j-"

"Barbie! I get it! But let me make one thing very, ve-hery clear. I do not, and never will, "love" your little girlfriend. I don't even _like_ her, and if you think anything different, there is obviously something wrong with that bleach-soaked scarecrow head of yours. Now get out of my way, I'm not in the mood for your high-pitched dog whistle of a voice today."

Elliot opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, then opened it again. She looked remarkably like a fish. When it became obvious to Dr. Cox that she was neither going to say anything, nor move out of his way, he growled and walked away from her, leaving her gaping.

--

Dr. Cox slumped onto the nurse's station in front of Carla. His headache had receded by now, though it had taken many hours. It was now 12:00 P.M., and he hadn't seen JD all day. The kid was obviously avoiding him, and Dr. Cox once again wondered whether or not someone had told JD about the latest gossip.

"What's wrong?" Carla asked, looking at Dr. Cox worriedly.

He glared up at her. "You didn't tell Newbie about your thoughts, did you? Which you are _completely_ and _totally_ wrong about, I may add."

Carla smiled slightly, not the least bit affected by the daggers being shot from his eyes. "No, I didn't. And no, I'm not."

Dr. Cox refrained from breathing a sigh of relief, and went back to glaring at Carla. "I'm pretty sure that whether or not you are right is for me to decide, considering it's my "feelings" you are talking about. Non-existent feelings, I feel the need to say, since you just don't seem to get the fact that I don't like your little sleep-over buddy."

Carla said nothing, just continued smiling in that annoying knowing way of hers.

"You seen Newbie today?" he knew this was a risky question to ask, because Carla would certainly find some hidden meaning in his words, but he had to know.

Carla smirked at him, then replied, "Yup. He's definitely avoiding you, in case you wanted to know."

Dr. Cox rolled his eyes. He _had_ wanted to know, but only Carla would be able to see that. He asked the next question semi-reluctantly, trying to sound nonchalant. "Do . . . do you know why?"

"Turk says he's scared."

"Of _what_, exactly?"

"You. He thinks you're going to kill him because of what he said the other day."

Dr. Cox furrowed his eyebrows in thought. What had JD said?

"_She has leukemia, Dr. Cox, so let me apologize for her if her attempt at having some fun and taking her mind off of that fact by pranking you interrupted your daily mirror-gaze-flexathon. God, Perry, you don't have to be such a hard-ass all the time."_

Oh. That. "I didn't even remember that happened until just now."

Carla looked surprised. "Really? Then you should go find him and tell him that, before he faints or something."

Dr. Cox would have said something along the lines of "He doesn't faint, he swoons," but Carla's eyes suddenly turned steely as if she'd read his mind, and instead, he just nodded and walked away.

It took him around ten minutes, but finally from down the hallway, he caught a glimpse of a moussed-up head bobbing as JD practically skipped down the hallway. Suddenly, a long blue jumpsuit-clad leg was put in the young doctor's path, and he fell face-first to the ground with a loud _smack_. Dr. Cox snorted at the sight, then frowned when JD didn't bounce back up right away.

"Scooter?" Janitor didn't sound in the least bit concerned, preferring to seem more like it was a big amount of trouble to check on the young doctor. He nudged JD with a foot. "You okay?"

Without meaning to, Dr. Cox found his legs moving quickly toward where JD lay. But a moment later, he stopped in his tracks as JD groaned and shifted.

"Ow . . . God, what was that for?" JD groaned again and turned himself over, then sat up. Dr. Cox held ack a sigh of relief when it became apparent that JD hadn't suffered from any severe injuries. Then, his relief quickly changed to shameful anger as he realized how he'd been ready to run to JD's side immediately. He grimaced.

JD chose that moment to look around the hallway to see if anyone else had witnessed his embarrassing fall, and mistook the look on Dr. Cox's face as anger at him. He stood up quickly from his position on the floor, shot one last glare at Janitor, stumbled a bit, then took off in a not-so-subtle fast walk in the opposite direction from Dr. Cox.

Dr. Cox sighed mentally and walked the few steps to where Janitor currently stood whistling a happy tune and pretending to work.

"You should be more careful, jackass," he continued walking in the direction JD had gone.

"I fear you not, Angry Doc!" Janitor called to his back.

"Yeah, yeah," Dr. Cox muttered, turning a corner just in time to see the door to the stairwell slam shut. He raised an eyebrow, only slightly amused, and followed after where he thought JD had headed. He opened the door to the stairwell, not bothering with attempting at being silent as he let the door slam behind him. He couldn't hear any footsteps from above or below him in the stairwell, but a moment later, he heard a sudden sound from above, which would have caused him to jump in surprise, had he been less manly. He took the steps two at a time, unsure of why he was rushing just to show the stupid kid that he wasn't going to kill him.

Judging by how far away the slamming door had sounded, Dr. Cox figured it was the door to the roof. He scoffed. If JD wanted to hide, the roof was not the right place. He'd be trapped. It wasn't as if he could jump to get away.

_Idiot,_ Dr. Cox thought as he threw open the door that led to the roof. He couldn't hide his triumphant smirk when JD jumped about a foot in the air as the door banged onto the wall from the sheer force of Dr. Cox's push. The kid was standing next to the ledge, looking, startled, over his shoulder.

"Well, if it isn't the ever-so good at evading Barbara!" Dr. Cox said in a mock-cheery voice.

"H-hey, Dr. Cox. What's happening?" JD was clearly attempting to hide his fear with a smile, though the slight tremble of his lips and voice defeated the purpose of his sham of bravery.

"Not much. I was just wondering why the puppy-dog little girl that used to follow me around spouting random things and trying to get me to hug her seemed to suddenly think I was some sort of contagious disease." When JD's eyebrows went up slightly, he added, "Not that I care. Just for the purpose of knowing."

JD sighed heavily, then rolled his eyes. Dr. Cox didn't seem to be mad. At least not any angrier than the older man usually was, so JD saw no reason to be intimidated, because he could usually handle Dr. Cox. "I wasn't avoiding you, Dr. Cox."

"Really." It wasn't a question, though JD felt obligated to answer anyway.

"Really. Just a bit worried, I guess. Jenny Carlton is having her surgery today."

Dr. Cox made a huge, over-dramatic show of slapping himself in the forehead, very hard. JD barely suppressed a wince at the blow.

After shaking his head furiously for a moment, Dr. Cox said, "I'm sorry. I'm not really sure what I did to make you suddenly think I _cared_ about your little patient, or anything else you say, but apparently I _did_, so let me state that that is just _so_ far from true. It's not even funny, how untrue that is. Really, it's shocking."

JD looked wounded for a moment, then thoughtful, before deciding on glaring. "Usually you have better bedside manner than this. What's wrong with you?"

"In case you didn't actually notice, Judy, we're not beside a bed."

"Still, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"So now there's a "the hell" added? What's up with that? Where has that pair of your's been hiding all these years, Amy? Or did you just recently grow one?"

JD puffed out his cheeks, blowing out some hot air. He was quickly getting angry - had Perry just come up here to annoy him, and insult him? "I _have_ balls. What do I need to do, show them to you? Is that it, huh? You need to _see_ them to believe them?"

Dr. Cox wasn't sure why he did what he did next. All he knew, was that everyone's never-ending accusing of him liking (maybe even loving) JD, and JD's angry declaration of having testes, then flushing adorably as he realized what he'd said, finally caused Dr. Cox to snap. One second, his fist was at his side, the next, it was flying through the air. Dr. Cox regretted the movement before JD even flinched, or the fist connected loudly with the side of his face. Of course, by then, the speed and strength of the clenched hand currently flying at JD's jaw was too high, and Dr. Cox couldn't stop it.

JD was immediately thrown back a few steps. The shock at having just been punched by his mentor barely had time to register before a new shock was blooming in his mind. He stumbled straight towards the ledge, and his legs connected with it right above the back of his knees, at a pressure point that would immediately cause anyone's knees to buckle.

Time seemed to slow in Dr. Cox's mind as he watched his protégé fall onto the ledge. He lunged forward before JD could actually tumble completely over, and grabbed JD's legs roughly, barely managing to hold him up. JD was left hanging awkwardly from the waist-up over the ledge, partly upside-down, breathing hard. The only thing holding him up was Dr. Cox's complete weight on his legs, and he thought that if Dr. Cox did actually manage to keep him from falling, he would die from a heart attack anyway.

Dr. Cox kneeled halfway, keeping most of his weight on JD's legs to ensure the kid didn't fall. He reached down to clasp one of JD's hands in his, and after thirty seconds or so, managed to hoist the young doctor back up, and over the ledge, first having to wrap an arm around him for more arm-power.

As soon as JD was safely on the rocky ground of the roof, Dr. Cox found himself wrapping the other arm around the kid in a bone-crushing . . . not really a hug, per-se, more like an _ohmygodyoualmostjustdied _and _iamclingingonfordearlifebecauseitwouldhavebeenmyfault_ sort of thing.

JD didn't even have time to react to the fact that Dr. Cox was hugging him (because to JD, it was only a hug) before the older doctor pulled away, trying to calm the fast rhythm of his heart that had begun the moment JD had took that very first near-fatal stumble towards the ledge. The fact that the thought of JD falling to his death took so much out of him and caused his heart to clench painfully was shocking, to say the least. Now there was no denying that he at least cared about the kid, even though he was certain it wasn't in a romantic way, the way everyone at the damned hospital seemed to think.

After Dr. Cox calmed his heart, he whispered breathlessly from where he was sitting on the gravelly ground next to JD, "_Jesus,_ JD."

As soon as JD was certain he wouldn't go into cardiac arrest the moment he spoke, and had calmed the nervous twitching his fingers had started from having that much adrenaline pumping through his system so quickly, he said almost tentatively, as if he himself couldn't believe it, "You _punched_ me."

Dr. Cox swallowed, appalled to feel the burning behind his eyes that came with the shame and guilt and the near-paralyzing fear that had come from seeing JD fall halfway off the roof. JD's voice at that moment had to be one of the worst things he had ever heard. He found his throat was oddly constricted, so instead he just nodded, and attempted to catch the kid's eye.

JD was doing a very good job of not looking at Dr. Cox, until finally he glanced up hesitantly, unable to avoid eye contact any longer.

The look in JD's eyes caused Dr. Cox to struggle not to let his breathing hitch. So many emotions were stewing inside those bright blue eyes that Dr. Cox could barely decipher them. Shock, fear, relief at not dying, but most of all _hurt._

Dr. Cox's heart clenched painfully again as guilt threatened to overwhelm his system. He looked away, unable to see that _damned wounded_ look in his . . . something's eye any longer, though he knew he deserved every ounce of guilt he was currently feeling, and more. The thought of never seeing JD again, and having it be _his_ fault was almost to much to . . . Then, JD spoke.

"It's kind of funny how I have to almost fall off a roof or something to get you to call me JD."

Dr. Cox's eyes snapped back to JD's, almost angrily. The kid actually sounded almost _happy_. Happy, simply for the reason that Dr. Cox had called him by his nickname, even thoughhe had also nearly killed him, however unintentionally. How could JD settle for that, even from him?Dr. Cox felt a pang of annoyance that the kid wasn't yelling at him, punching him back, something! He would deserve it, and he sure as hell wouldn't do anything to reciprocate at that moment.

Suddenly, and without warning, JD stood up with a little trouble, due to his legs still shaking. "I'll be seeing you, Dr. Cox."

There it was. The happiness was gone, replaced by a coldness that Dr. Cox had rarely heard in JD's voice, especially not directed at him. Strangely enough, this actually made Dr. Cox feel a bit better. The feeling only lasted for a moment, as a few seconds later, the roof door slammed shut again, leaving Dr. Cox completely and utterly alone.

He had known his anger would eventually cost him.

--

**End Chapter Two!**

**I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter either. I tried to make Dr. Cox not too sappy. One thing I've noticed on the show, though, is that he always manages to feel a lot of guilt whenever he wrongs someone enough. If he actually had nearly (even accidentally) caused JD to fall off a roof, I imagine this would be his reaction, whether he had romantic feelings for JD or not, but the fact that in my story he **_**does**_** just intensifies that. **

**Anyhoo, review to tell me if you loved it, or hated it! The next chapter will be ****His Bargaining****. I'll try to get it out ASAP!**

**- Jess**


	3. Chapter Three, His Bargaining

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**His Different Stages**

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by: **J-Scrubs**

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**Author's Note: Here cometh Chapter Three, all! Hope you like it! And thank you all for the reviews! 3**

**Warnings: SLASH, LYK OMIGAWD! I'd like to say, you shouldn't be offended by anything I write in these. It is generally how I imagine the CHARACTERS would think, though sometimes my own feelings may be put in there. . . I actually think a lot like Dr. Cox, though, so you'll never know since most of this is in his point of view. Muahahaha! There is also some mild sexual content in here. Nothing too bad, of course, as this is rated T.**

**Disclaimer: . . . Do you not know what "disclaimer" means?! It means I am officially NOT CLAIMING this fricking show and its characters! Jeez! Must you rub it in?! =P**

--

**Chapter Three ; His Bargaining**

--

Perry Cox pinched the bridge the bridge of his nose, trying to fight off the headache that was threatening to become a full-blown migraine any minute. When the pain subsided only an iota, he silently promised himself never to bang his head into the wall seventeen times ever again. This promise was futile, though. It was what he did when he was frustrated, and it sure as hell beat cutting himself. Too wimpy.

And at that moment, he was very, very frustrated. He knew that beating himself up wouldn't change what had happened with JD, what with him sending a fist at the younger doctor's face that connected with so much force it almost threw the younger doctor off the roof, but it managed to take his mind off of it for about three seconds, before the shocked and hurt look on JD's face flashed back into his mind, and the younger doctor's hurt-filled words reverberated through his head:

"_I'll be seeing you, Dr. Cox._"

Had it been anyone else, during any other circumstances, this would have just been a normal farewell. But JD's tone, face and just the _words_ that came from his mouth were just so horribly different from the kid's usual personality. Normally, he would say something like:

"_I know you'll miss me, no matter how much you try to deny it, Dr. Cox!_"

JD may even throw in a "Perry" somewhere in there, to the older doctor's unending annoyance. But Dr. Cox would much rather being annoyed by the girly man than given the cold shoulder, as much as he hated to admit it. Still, he knew he deserved it.

He also knew he deserved every single accusing stare that he was getting from every single one of the Sacred Heart employees. He didn't think JD had told Carla (because that was the person JD was most likely to tell who could spread the news this fast) that the brunette had nearly spun off the roof at the same time, because otherwise the deadly stares would have been deadly weapons of mass destruction. A lot of people at the hospital certainly did care about JD, no matter how annoying they might also think he was. It was true that JD had always had some sort of charming dorkiness about him that allowed him to create just enough room in everyone's heart for him.

Only Elliot had been unaffected by the news of Dr. Cox slugging JD, though he imagined it would have been a completely different story had she known the complete story. She'd actually patted him on the back and told him that JD had had it coming, which only caused his poor mood to elevate and he'd growled menacingly at her. She had yanked her hand back, startled, and fled after squeaking out what sounded like "Why are you so pissy?"

He'd been tempted to yell after her, "Because, though I doubt the stupid kid told you this part, I might as well have pushed him straight off the roof, and this fact caused me to come to the completely uncomfortable realization that I actually _care_ about the little piss-rag, and that is just _so _not something I have the energy to be dealing with!"

But Dr. Cox had managed to restrain himself from shouting that particularly embarrassing sentence, and went off to find Carla, though he knew she'd be more accusing than anyone, other than perhaps Ghandi. He'd decided only minutes earlier that he was going to tell her the full story, and that she could do with it what she liked. He didn't care, because it didn't seem like the angry glares he was getting were enough punishment for what he'd done.

And while Dr. Cox wasn't necessarily the type who enjoyed being punished ("_Ooh, kinky, Perry," _the inner JD that he seemed to have developed since punching the kid giggled) he believed that if he'd done something truly wrong, and felt the person who would most likely be able to alleviate some of the stress and guilt he was feeling by berating him on every single bad thing he'd done, was Carla.

He walked silently towards the nurse's station, feeling a dozen pairs of eyes burning holes in him. Carla, though, was ignoring him completely. He stood in front of her, and snapped his fingers impatiently under her face when she continued looking at one of the charts. Had he not been Dr. Perry Cox he would have flinched at the glare she shot him. It topped any of the looks he'd gotten so far. There was such _menace_ in the look, as if Carla was just one step away from snapping and tearing his head off.

"_What?_" she scowled, putting one hand on her hips.

"I need to talk to you."

"Oh, no, Percival Cox. I tell you to show JD that he had nothing to be afraid of, and you do _this?_"

"Carla. I _need_ to _talk_ to you."

Something in Dr. Cox's voice managed to soften Carla's eyes, if only a little bit. Venom was still evident in her voice, though, when she snapped, "Fine."

The way Carla's blood pressure seemed to go down just a little bit at his words made Dr. Cox rethink his decision to tell her everything. He was almost certain his admittance would only make her angrier. He clenched his fists and jaw simultaneously in determination, then jerked his head to an empty patient room, firming his resolve. He wasn't sure if admitting would earn him an absolution, and he wasn't even sure if he wanted that absolution, still feeling that he deserved everything he was getting and more.

When the two were in the safety of the patient's room, Dr. Cox cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to figure out how to word the story in a way that wouldn't make Carla find the nearest scalpel and jam it very far and very painfully into his thigh.

"Well?" Carla tapped her foot impatiently.

"We were on the roof," Dr. Cox said the first thing that came to his mind. He nearly cringed when he said them, wondering if that sounded as cryptic to Carla as it had to him.

"We as in who?" That answered his question.

"Me and JD."

"When you decided to beat the crap out of him for no apparent reason?" Carla asked, exaggerating a bit. One punch wasn't necessarily "beating the crap out of" JD, but she didn't much care out the moment.

"First of all, I didn't beat-" Dr. Cox was silenced by another glare from Carla. He continued, "Yes."

Carla eyes narrowed in confusion. "What does where it happened have to do with anything?"

"Well . . . we were kind of . . . very close to the ledge."

Now, Carla was a very smart person. Within seconds, something seemed to click inside her mind. "No _wonder_ he seemed so shaken up! I knew there was something more to it than you just punching him!"

Dr. Cox raised an eyebrow in surprise when she didn't sound as angry as he'd expected. "Wh- Aren't you pissed as hell at me?" he asked incredulously.

Carla went back into hand-on-jutted-hip, finger-pointing-accusingly, from-the-block mode, as she said, "Of course I'm angry, you idiot! You need to be more careful! Punching him is bad enough, but how could you be so stupid as to do it when there's even the slightest possibility that he'd fa-" Carla's eyes widened in realization at the increasingly guilty and shameful look Dr. Cox wore. "He _did_ fall, didn't he? Obviously not all the way, but still!" Taking a deep breath, she began spouting in Spanish. "Usted debe estar loco! Lo que el infierno se le pensando?"

Dr. Cox rubbed the back of his neck. "I probably am crazy, yes, and I have absolutely no clue what I was thinking," he said in response to her questions.

Carla looked taken aback for a moment, then seemed to recall that Dr. Cox spoke her native tongue. She took a deep breath, blowing a curl out of her eyes in a strangely Elliot-esque way. "Okay . . . okay. O_kay._ Did you apologize?"

Dr. Cox continued rubbing his neck, before muttering, "No."

Carla took another deep, calming breath, obviously trying to quell her temper. "And why is that?" she asked through half-clenched teeth.

"Well, it pretty much happened very fast. And then after I pulled him back over, we were both kind of just . . . I guess you could say "scared the crap out of into silence." Yeah, that sounds about right. Then he left."

"Well, at least you realize your mistake. It's sweet that the thought of something happening to him scares the crap out of you, though," Carla softened her tone until finally she was speaking normally. She was still annoyed at Dr. Cox, but his admitting indirectly that he cared about JD was somewhat of a cute anti-temper wall against Carla. Now, if only she could get him to admit it directly. "I guess that means you have feelings for him."

"Well, as anyone with eyes is currently _forcing my to see_, yes . . . b-but, not in that way! I care about him, yes, or I wouldn't have nearly had a heart attack when he almost fell, but I most certainly don't think about him in any sort of romantic or sexual way. That gelled-up girl may have managed to worm his way into the cold thing in my chest that beats occasionally _somehow_, but I do. Not. Like. Him. That. Way."

Carla smirked, but decided not to say anything more, other than, "You should go apologize to him." Then, she walked toward the door of the empty hospital room.

Dr. Cox nearly groaned. He hated apologies. Besides, he had no clue where the stupid day-dreaming kid was.

The Latina nurse seemed to sense his slight hesitation, because she stopped and called over her shoulder, "He's watching Jenny Carlton's exploratory surgery. Operating Room B3."

Dr. Cox waited for her to leave, still wanting to keep his pride intact at least a little bit, before walking out of the room very slowly (so Carla didn't think he was in any kind of hurry to set things right with JD, because he _did_ still have quite the big ego, and to have her think he cared _that_ much would certainly bring more of her signature annoying knowing smiles upon him) and ignoring all the still-searing gazes, he felt on his back as he walked towards an elevator. At least none of those pairs of eyes belonged to his favorite latina nurse any longer.

A minute later, he was walking towards the operating room. From a few dozen feet down the hallway, he could see JD sitting on the floor outside the operating room door, his head in his hands.

_What, did I give him a concussion or something?_ he thought, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't too worried, already feeling a trifling better from his conversation with Carla. Besides, it was doubtful that his punch had managed to tamper with JD's head that badly. _Then what the hell is the matter with him?_

As he walked closer, he saw through the small window in the door, around six dejected-looking surgeons and nurses emerged from the operating room, one by one pulling their masks and gloves off.

As he walked with an increased pace towards JD, he heard snippets of what they were saying as they opened the door and walked out of the room. "So young,""Who will tell the parents?" and finally, "Time of Death: 14:06."

Dr. Cox stopped at that, and ducked into a room as the surgeons and nurses walked his way. He heard their muffled voices pass, and noting that JD's wasn't one of them, he slipped back out of the room. His heart twinged sympathetically when he saw his protégé still sitting against the wall, rubbing his eyes.

He prepared to take a step toward the young man when he felt a rough tap on his shoulder. He turned around and rolled his eyes when he saw the black surgeon wearing green scrubs and a murderous expression on his face. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Hm, I always knew you weren't the sharpest tool in the shed, but I didn't think I'd have to state something quite _this _obvious for you to get it. What does it look like I'm doing, Ghandi? I'm going to talk to your little girlfriend over there."

Turk's eyes narrowed even more so that it looked almost like they were closed. There was a crease above his brow as he barely controlled his anger. "No, you are not. You know why? Because you've lost that privilege. And you know what? I don't even think I should let you _look _at him after what you did."

Dr. Cox's nostrils flared a bit. He had just managed to get rid of some of his guilt, he was _not_ going to sit here and take this from an idiot like the man before him. "Oh, right, Ghandi. Like you've never hurt him. Do I need to list the times? Because believe me, I will," he clenched his jaw before continuing, "Now, if you please, I'd like to go talk to Clarabelle and, as hard as this may be to get into your pea-sized brain, which by the way is absolutely disproportionate to your humongous bald head, I'm actually going to apologize to him."

The black surgeon, who's seemed to grow even more angry throughout Dr. Cox's rant, suddenly looked at the older man with wide eyes and a faintly suspicious look on his face. "Apologize? You're going to apologize? To JD?"

Dr. Cox refrained from rolling his eyes again, and simply nodded.

Turk took a deep breath, and a little of the tension, but not all, in his shoulders disappeared. "Good, you'd better. But don't think this is over. If you don't do an amazing job convincing JD you're truly sorry, you'll have a black eye to match his, I can promise you that."

"I wouldn't expect any less from you," Dr. Cox replied, looking faintly amused at Turk's shocked reaction to his compliment.

"Oh. Well, okay. Great. Yeah, you go apologize," Turk said, trying to sound commanding even though the rare compliment from JD's hard-ass mentor figure had softened him a bit.

"I will. See ya," the curly-haired doctor said, not so subtly dismissing him.

Turk rolled his eyes, but turned to walk away, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "Still a jackass, I see."

Dr. Cox watched the black surgeon walk away until he was certain Turk wouldn't be sneaking back to eavesdrop, then turned to look at the still depressed-looking form of JD.

He had never been good with dealing with crying, but he was a man on a mission. He took a deep breath and walked toward JD, making enough sound so that the younger doctor wouldn't be startled when he popped up in front of him. JD didn't look up, but Dr. Cox could tell he'd noticed him. He wasn't sure if JD had realized who was currently standing in front of him, but when the kid didn't stiffen up or flinch away, he slid down the wall and sat down next to him with a soft "thump."

JD still didn't look up, and Dr. Cox took it upon himself to be the conversation initiator.

"I'm sorry," he said, and both men were surprised at how much it seemed the older doctor was regretful for, in just one sentence. He was sorry Jenny hadn't made it. He was sorry that the last thing he'd said to JD about the child was that he didn't care about her. He was sorry for punching the kid, and he was sorry for not _saying _he was sorry the second after it had happened.

JD looked up at the sound of his mentor's voice. He had thought it was Turk or someone, coming to comfort him. Not Dr. Cox, though the man's apology served more purpose to lifting his spirits, if only a little, than Turk could have done even with a marathon of Gilmore Girls and a big pack of Spider-man comics.

"Does whatever a Perry can . . ." JD sang under his breath.

Dr. Cox's eyes widened in surprise at hearing JD's words. He was unable to hold in a snort, and he leaned his head back on the wall. "However little that may be, kid . . ."

JD unconsciously lifted a hand up to his already-purple bruise, wincing when his hand connected it.

Dr. Cox cringed. "Sorry," he said again.

JD nodded, resting his head parallel to Dr. Cox's on the wall. "It's all good in the hood."

Dr. Cox snorted again, fighting to hide the smile that played across his features at his Newbie's forgiveness. JD, of course, noticed this struggle, and a smirk formed on his lips.

"What are you smiling about, Perry?"

Dr. Cox rolled his eyes at the second use of his first name in less than two minutes, thinking back to the first one, sung in some tune that sounded a bit familiar to him. What the hell was that about? "You know I'm not some kind of super-hero, don't you, Newbie?"

JD tilted his head to the side for a moment, then snapped out of it. "Spandex would do wonders for what I'm sure are very muscular thighs."

Dr. Cox froze for a second. Was JD saying that about him? He swallowed as, to his own personal shame, he felt his cheeks heat up. Turning away, he attempted to hide his face from the young man beside him. He cleared his throat, climbed to his feet, and unable to stop himself, he reached out and mussed JD's hair, surprised when his finger's did not come out covered with something that looked like it should be used for special effects in Alien or Men in Black. 

"See you, kid."

"I'll be seein' ya, Perry."

Dr. Cox smiled as he walked away, his heart considerably lighter. When he was completely down the hall, he heard a feminine chuckle as Jordan stepped from around the corner.

"That was almost – gag – cute, for you, Per-Per. I hate to say I told you so . . . well, actually, no I don't. I totally told you so!"

"What?!" Dr. Cox snapped defensively. "He was close enough for a hair mussing!" He raised his arms with a look that said his strange phrase was supposed to explain everything. "And you didn't tell me so. You told me I had a crush on him!"

"You do," Jordan stated matter-of-factly, shrugging a shoulder.

"I don't, Jorderoo, and I'll prove it."

"Oh? And how would you do that?"

Dr. Cox searched his mind with furrowed eyebrows. What he came up with was not the smartest idea he'd ever thought up. "Have sex with me."

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly would that prove that you aren't in love with Sally Sensitive?"

"It would. Just trust me, Satan. Come on." For some reason, Dr. Cox was certain that having sex with his ex-wife would also prove to himself that he had no feelings for JD. Some part of him also knew that that was probably the most idiotic notion he'd ever had, but the part that was certain it would prove his purely mentor-like feelings for the doe-eyed doctor was larger.

"What would you give me?"

Dr. Cox squinted confusedly, then rolled his eyes. "Botox checks for three months." He had stopped paying for Jordan's monthly de-aging visits when they had both come to the realization that they no longer loved each other in that way.

Jordan considered. "A year."

"Six months, final offer."

Jordan sighed dramatically, as if having sex with him was a load of trouble for her, before nodding and pulling Dr. Cox into a surprisingly empty on-call room.

--

Immediately after Jordan zipped up her leather skirt and left the on call room, Dr. Cox fell back onto the bed with a groan and covered his face with his hands. That had been the most horrifying experience of his life. It wasn't the _sex_ that had been bad, it was the ending. Dr. Cox had not even been _close_ yet, when Jordan decided to spout some (most likely) well-planned before-hand sentence that had change everything.

"Can you imagine what th- oh- this would be like with D . . . DJ?"

That one, not-so seemingly innocent question immediately put images in Dr. Cox's mind that he did not want there. Never had.

But the damage was done. Jordan's face had morphed into that of JD's, except JD's face was flushed in the most appealing and absolutely _sexy_ way possible, and he was biting his lip to keep from crying out. Still, in Dr. Cox's mind, the occasional "oh, God!" or "yes, Perry . . ." or a simple "mmphh," had escaped from Fantasy JD's mouth, and the next moment, he found himself groaning in complete and totally undeniable pleasure as he released himself.

Now, that in itself wasn't really proof to anyone but himself that he had any sort of feelings for JD, but the next thing that happened was. Dr. Cox uttered what were probably the most idiotic two words he could have at that moment.

"_Jesus, Newbie._"

The second he had gotten over his post-orgasmic trembling and heavy breathing, he had rolled off of Jordan, mortified. She had just smirked triumphantly at him, gotten dressed, and left the on-call room, but not without saying one last time:

"I _so_ told you so!"

Dr. Cox groaned again, still not removing his hands from his face. What had seemed once like the most brilliant plan ever to cross his mind had, just like that, turned into the worst plan ever. He'd ended up horrified (not too different from his normal sex romps with Jordan, though this was for a different reason), embarrassed (also not much of a change), shocked, and filled with realization.

That realization _was_ that he did, in fact, have some sort of _feelings_ for his protégé. And they were not just that he cared whether the kid died, or whether it was his fault. And he could tell the feelings weren't completely sexual, either, because when he thought back to JD's flushed face, _something_ inside his heart tightened (not to mention a suspicious area about a bit below his tummy.) Yes, this realization was annoying, and inconvenient, and it pissed him off supremely that Carla and his she-Devil ex-wife had been right.

"Fucking Newbie," he muttered, which of course, led to certain thoughts that he had previously held no want or need for, but now felt to him like some sort of insanely hot drug. If he were House, he guessed his little fantasies of JD would be his Vicoden.

So much for his bargaining. Jordan would absolutely _not_ be getting any money for Botox from him. Most certainly _not._

--

**End Chapter Three!**

**Hmm... I actually didn't mind this chapter too much, which is amazing for me. I tried to keep Dr. Cox as in character as I could, and normally he opens up to Carla when he feels the need. This seemed like one of those times, so I hope it fit nicely.**

**I added Turk's part at the last minute, because I like him usually and he hasn't been in this much, so I hope his small part wasn't horrible. =P**

**Next chapter, His Depression!**

**- Jess**


	4. Chapter Four, His Depression

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**His Different Stages**

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by: **J-Scrubs**

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**Author's Note: Hellooooo, out there! I'm back again, and I sincerely hope this chapter is up to everyone's standards. =]**

**Warning: Slash of the man on man kind. Don't like, don't read. And some scotchy-ness.**

**Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own Scrubs.**

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**Chapter Four ; His Depression**

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JD sat on the floor for about 10 minutes after Dr. Cox left, just thinking. He was still sad about Jenny, of course, but his little chat with Dr. Cox had made him feel infinitely better. And when he had mussed his hair, JD hadn't been able to fight back the blush at the not-really-_that _intimate contact. It was a big deal for Dr. Cox to do such a thing, though, and it made something deep inside JD's stomach wiggle a little in a totally not uncomfortable way.

JD shook his head in an attempt to clear it, and bit his lip a little. Dr. Cox had touched him before, but it was usually in a mocking way, or at least very reluctant. It hadn't ever been so completely willing and . . . well, _sweet_. He sighed and scrubbed a hand across his forehead, giving the side of his head a sharp tap as if to knock the thoughts out of his head. He warned himself "_Don't go there, J-Dizzle, you know it'll never happen and will only lead to heartbreak._"

Now, it was no big secret that JD had a bit of a crush on his mentor. In fact, the only people who couldn't see it were Dr. Cox himself and quite possibly Turk, who maybe just didn't _want_ to see it. Carla had been giving him this little smile every time she saw them together, which, now that he thought about it, had been growing larger and much more Cheshire cattish recently for some unknown reason. But JD had easily convinced himself that this crush was a bad thing, a _very very _bad thing, because it would only end up with him hurting.

Yesterday had just been proof of that fact. When Dr. Cox had landed that fist on the side of his face, he had barely even felt it at first. Not that it wasn't a hard punch, because it sure as hell was, but because he had been so focused on the internal shock and pain. It had shocked him so much emotionally that he didn't really feel the already-forming bruise until about fifteen minutes later. Besides that, he hadn't even been completely sure _why_ Dr. Cox had punched him at all. Sure, he had stood up to him, but he'd done that before a million times before and it had never ended with him almost tumbling to his death off of a roof. _Evil roof of Satan, with it's sinister gravel of Hell that makes people look like they have a bajillion tiny dents in their skin if they sit on it too long._

The last thing he remembered saying to Dr. Cox was something taunting about whether he wanted to see JD's testicles for proof that he had them. JD reddened a little at the memory, thinking of all the connotations in that sentence. _Maybe he was so disgusted at the thought of something like that that he couldn't help but want to beat my face in_. Although this thought was supposed to be funny, and make him feel a little better, he couldn't help but feel a little more dejected, because it was quite likely that _had_ been the reason Dr. Cox had punched him.

And JD had forgiven him for that, he really had. That didn't mean it didn't hurt, having the man you had a huge crush on, and could most certainly love if he'd let you, be so disgusted by the _notion_ of seeing some of your unmentionables that he wasn't able to hold back a fist flying at your head.

JD sighed again, and resolved not to think about it for at LEAST another hour or so. He was tired, anyway, and there was an on-call room just down the hall. He walked quickly, trying to keep his mind away from Dr. Cox, and stopped short a couple feet away from the door as Jordan came out of the room, with a big self-satisfied smile on her face. When she noticed him, she leaned in as if to tell him a secret.

"Might not wanna go in there just yet, DJ. Perry's in there, and he may need a little time to get his breath back." She adjusted her bra a little for good measure.

JD felt himself stop breathing for a second, as his eyes widened and his heart constricted painfully. He tried to laugh it off, thinking, "_she's lying_." But why would she lie? After all, to the best of his knowledge, they were still together. They _must_ do . . . stuff like that. Except Dr. Cox had only left him sitting on the floor about ten minutes ago. It was pretty quick. Then again, Dr. Cox _was _kinda old, and JD knew from experience that Jordan wasn't really into foreplay, so it wouldn't be all that much of a shock if they had just gotten right down to it and finished fast.

JD stared at Jordan for a moment, surprised when he saw an almost sympathetic expression on her face, but that disappeared and he thought maybe he'd just imagined it as she smirked and said, "I've got to be going now, DJ. Why not check inside if you don't believe me, though?"

She left, and JD did check. He opened the door slowly and peeked inside, then felt his heart squeeze again painfully as he saw Dr. Cox laying down on one of the beds, looking absolutely sated. He breezed out of the room quickly, and winced as he heard it close way too loudly. He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the burning behind his eyes, and walked briskly away from the room, away from Dr. Cox, and away from what he knew had just happened.

--

As Dr. Cox drove to a bar that night, he gripped the steering wheel hard. There was no way JD felt the same about him. Hell, the kid thought of him like a _father_. This, of course, was a big blow to his ego. So he did the only thing he could think of to do, the same thing he always did in situations like these – he drank.

He drank a lot, mainly scotch, and by the time he was done he was smashed. The bartender requested he let him call someone to pick him up, and he slurred his apartment's phone number. The bartender handed him the phone, and he listened to it ring for a few seconds until his ex-wife picked it up.

"Per-Bear, is that you?" Jordan didn't sound in the least bit worried, preferring to sound more like how she would speak to someone while she inspected her nails for dirt.

"Yeaaaash, it is I, Jorderoo. What's shakin'?" he said, leaning heavily on the wall near the phone.

"You're drunk." It wasn't a question.

"'O coursh I'm drunk! What dooo youuu expect ? Nobody likes me, you don't. Jaydee doesn't either. He thinksh I'm jus' an old gay mean old gay man, and ya know what?! He's riiiight. Haha. He is sho right."

"Perry. Perry, shut up. I'm coming to get you, and we need to talk. Asshole." With that, Jordan hung up.

--

When Jordan arrived a few minutes later in her own car, she looked very annoyed. She walked right up to Dr. Cox and smacked him on the back of the head, muttering things like "idiot, going out and getting drunk of his ass without even _knowing_ how the damn gelled-up freak of nature feels" and "stupid jackass, making me have to give Jacky to the neighbors."

She nodded a thank-you to the bartender, and threw Dr. Cox's arm over her shoulder none too gently, attempting to hoist as much of his weight as she could to the car. When she got him inside and settled herself in the driver's seat, she rolled her eyes over to him and sighed, exasperated, when she saw that he was already away from the land of consciousness. He rarely ever got drunk enough to just pass out, except when he was going through serious emotional turmoil. Her eyes softened a little as she watched the steady up-and-down motion of his chest as he breathed, and she reached out to pull lightly (not as lightly as she should've, because she'd be damned if she showed so much affection to _anyone_, let alone _Perry_) on one of his curls. Then, she drove them home.

--

Dr. Cox groaned loudly as his alarm clock woke him up at 5:00 AM. His head was killing him, and his stomach was churning. He reached out a hand to turn it off, knowing that he had to get up or he'd be late for his 6:00 AM shift. He couldn't really remember much, but judging by how he was feeling he assumed he's gotten quite drunk last night. Not that he remembered. Suddenly, his stomach lurched and he had to rush to the bathroom.

--

Jordan smiled from the counter where she was sipping coffee. She loved the sounds of hangovers in the morning, when they weren't hers. About fifteen minutes later, Dr. Cox walked into the room, fully dressed in scrubs and closing his eyes with a wince at the light.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice rough from throwing up.

"Oh, nothing. Unless you mean the fact that you had to call me from the bar to pick you up last night, because apparently you were too drunk to drive home. All depressed and what-not. Understandable, considering, and these are your words, not mine, that Sally doesn't love you and thinks you are just mean and old and gay."

Dr. Cox opened his eyes fractionally at that. "I did _not_ say any such thing!"

Jordan raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Sorry, Per. You did. And I'm pretty sure you're wrong about the kid's feelings, too."

"Excuse me?" Dr. Cox's eyes widened a little more. "And why would you think that?"

"Well, you should have seen his face when I told him about our little sex romp yesterday. He looked like someone had just run over his puppy with a monster truck and stood there and pointed and laughed while he begged them to call someone to help."

Dr. Cox simply stared at her for a moment, shocked by his new development. Then, "You _told_ Newbie?! Why?!"

"Excuse me, but he was walking right into the room when I exited. I figured I should warn him. Besides, I wanted to see how he'd react. It was very satisfying, to say the least. He looked absolutely _heartbroken_!" Jordan cackled a bit, raising her coffee mug to her lips to take another sip.

Dr. Cox opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. A little part of his mind said to him, "Do you know what this means? It means he feels the same way!" but the cynical part of him was bigger, and stronger, and it lead him to say, "Heartbroken? Yeah, right. The kid was probably disgusted or surprised or any _number _of things! He was most certainly _not _heartbroken. There's no way he could possibly -"

"Per, if you finish that sentence I will rip your lungs out through your ass. For someone with such a big head you _really _need to have more confidence when it comes to lovin'. Seriously, you need to go find that kid _now_, before he jumps off a roof _without_ your help."

He took a moment to process what she said. First of all, how did she know about the roof thing? Only Carla had kno–oh. Well, there you go. Then, before he had time to think more about it, he was being shoved with surprising force through his apartment and out the front door. Jordan threw him her keys.

"Your car is still at the bar. Take mine, and go find that damn mousse-head girly manboy." She graced him with one of her rare smiles (not smirks or evil, menacing sneers, at least), then promptly slammed the door in his face.

He stared at the door to his apartment for about three seconds before he turned and took off running toward the elevator.

--

**End Chapter Four!**

**I hope that was okay. I really don't think it was good, but you tell me. =/ Err, I think the next chapter is the last, so yeah! xD Also, I'm sorry it was pretty short. A little more than half of my other chapters, I think. Or 2/3s or something. =P**

**Review, review, review, please! I like to hear your thoughts and all that good stuff. =]**

**I apologize if this is the biggest piece of crap you've ever read.** **Hmmm. I should probably have more confidence in what I write. Lmao.**

**- Jess**


	5. Chapter Five, His Acceptance

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**His Different Stages**

--

by: **J-Scrubs**

--

**Author's Note: Ahoy, there! This be the last chapter! I hope you enjoy it, again I'm sorry if it's not up to your standards. Remember, this is my first fanfiction. If you get the reference in the first part of the story to another show I absolutely LUUURVE and that has an actor whom I am in love with, I shall giveth you a cookie!**

**Warnins: Slash, which means MALE-MALE romantic relationships/feelings. Otherwise known as yaoi.** **Anyhoo, if you have a problem with that, don't read please. Thank you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Scrubs! **

--

**Chapter Five ; His Acceptance**

--

Dr. Cox drove as fast as he could without getting arrested, to the bar where his Porsche currently resided. He would have gone to the hospital, where he was almost certain JD also currently was on a shift, but there was no way he was driving there in Jordan's hunk-of-junk. Actually, it was a pretty nice car, but nothing quite compared to his baby. Except maybe a '67 Impala, but that was another story for another day.

He reached the bar in record time, jumped out of Jordan's car, and ran to his own, remembering that his keys were in his jacket pocket. At home. Luckily, Jordan had a spare key to his car on her own key chain. He jumped into the Porsche and sped away towards the hospital. His shift started at 6:00 AM, and it was currently 5:50 AM. The hospital was only a few minutes away, and probably even shorter considering the speed at which he was going, but he was really hoping for some time to talk to a certain blue-eyed brunette doctor before his shift began.

Two minutes later, Dr. Cox pulled into the Sacred Heart parking lot with a long screech of tires. He jumped out of his car and simultaneously smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw JD's motor scooter (_Sasha?_ he remembered).

--

Inside the hospital, Carla was currently trying to get something out of JD. She wasn't sure exactly what was wrong, but he had seemed depressed when he came home yesterday, he hadn't spoken much at all, and he hadn't even sung the Waffle Song this morning, even though she'd made them with Turk's special Snoopy-shaped waffle iron.

"Bambi, please tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help!"

JD kept his eyes focused on the counter. "Thanks, Carla. But I doubt it. The . . . problem is really stubborn and difficult and sometimes mean and grouchy and I'm – I just don't think I'm ready to talk about it."

This was really quite worrying. JD always, _always_, talked about his problems. Often times it annoyed the crap out of her and his other friends, but right now she honestly wanted to know what was bothering him. It must be something big if he wasn't spouting out what was wrong to everyone within hearing distance. "Stubborn, difficult, mean and grouchy?"

He nodded sulkily, and Carla raised an eyebrow. "This wouldn't have something to do with Dr. Cox, would it?"

JD's head shot up to stare at her in awe, and she smiled softly. "Bambi, sweetie, you should know by now that you can't keep things from me. Besides, you made it pretty damn obvious with your little description of your problem. The only person other than Dr. Cox in this hospital that fits that description is Bob Kelso, and I doubt you're so upset about him. Then of course, there's Jordan, but she's more bitchy than grouchy," she noticed the way JD tensed up a little at the mention of Jordan. "Tell me what's wrong. You'll feel better, I promise."

JD took a deep breath, then swallowed. "It's just – yesterday, he and . . . _she_ had . . . well, they did it! In the on call room!" He held his breath, waiting for Carla's reaction.

Carla hid her knowing smile well, if she did think so herself. She knew exactly why this bothered JD so much, of course, but she wanted to hear it straight from his mouth. She'd never gotten JD to admit explicitly that he was in love with Dr. Cox. "And this upsets you because?"

JD froze for a moment, before an impossible blush spread across his cheeks and he said, "Well, it was the on-call room."

"Don't lie to me, JD. I know you," Carla said gently, putting a hand over his across the nurse's station.

JD looked up at her sincere brown eyes, then looked down at the comforting hand covering his own, and felt his eyes stinging again. He cleared his throat and said, low enough so that only she could hear, "I just . . . I don't want him having sex. With anyone else. Except . . ."

"Except what, JD?" _Or who,_ she added in her thoughts.

JD closed his eyes and turned even redder, if that was possible, before whispering, "Except _me._"

Carla let a wide smile spread across her face and she used the hand that wasn't squeezing JD's comfortingly to raise his head from where it was currently bowed. "Look at me, JD."

When he opened his eyes, she said gently, "I get it. You like him."

JD blushed and bit his lip, before nodding a bit reluctantly. "You're not – you don't think I'm weird? You're not mad?"

Carla snorted here, and tapped JD's nose once before withdrawing her hand and saying, "No, you are _not _weird. Don't you ever let anyone tell you any different. And of course I'm not mad, Bambi! Well, maybe a little, but only because it took you so long to finally admit it."

"Finally – what?! You knew? For how long?"

"Uhh, if I had to put a number on it, I'd say . . . about a year, I guess."

JD took a deep, calming breath, which didn't help as he squeaked, "A year? You've known for a year? I don't think _I've _even known for a year!"

Carla simply raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "You shouldn't underestimate my powers of intuition."

JD rubbed his forehead a little, then asked her, just to make sure, "So . . . it doesn't bug you, like at all, that I like him, you know, like that?"

"Of course not, JD. I love you, and so does Turk, if that's what your worrying about. This won't change his opinion of you at all. I mean, you've been best friends for how long?" Carla looked up at the clock on the wall. "Shoot, Bambi, I'm really sorry to end this, but I've got to go now, Turk should be done with his surgery." She glanced behind JD, smirked and raised an eyebrow, then said, "On second thought, I think I'll stay for a while."

JD made the mistake of also looking over his shoulder, and stiffened immediately when he saw who was currently strolling down the hallway towards them. He tried to ignore the twisting of his stomach as he thought about what he knew Dr. Cox had been doing with Jordan just yesterday right in this hospital.

"Amber, hello! Can I speak with you for just a moment?"

JD turned pleading eyes to Carla, begging her to help him. She just gave him an encouraging smile and said to Dr. Cox in his place, "Sure you can! We were done with our little chat anyway."

Dr. Cox's smile widened, and he grabbed JD just below the elbow to pull him away, "Great!"

JD squeaked a little as Dr. Cox took hold of his arm, and the last thing Carla heard out of him was a high-pitched "Can't Carla come with us to talk?!" from a little ways down the hallway, before she heard an empty room's door slam.

--

JD looked nervously at Dr. Cox, his eyes flickering to the door every few seconds, as if he was ready to run. Dr. Cox stared at him, taking in his flushed cheeks and how he looked like a scared deer in headlights.

_Well_, he thought, _there's no going back now. Get on with it, Perry. Come on, you can do this._ He followed the advice of his inner pep-talk, and took a step towards JD. _You know Jordan wouldn't lie to you about this – well, actually, that's exactly the kind of thing she would do, but . . . Carla wouldn't! And she had that look in her eyes that says something good is about to happen to one of her friends . . . or two. _Dr. Cox nodded mentally, steeling himself for what he was about to do.

He took another step closer to JD, who took a step back, and they both stepped in the same way until finally JD was up against the wall with wide eyes as Dr. Cox stared him down. "Newbie," Dr. Cox murmured, and JD could feel his breath. And it smelled like minty fresh Crest and oranges, a scent which the younger doctor found inexplicably sexy when it was coming from the curly haired doctor.

_Too late to back out, too late to back out, too late to back out,_ Dr. Cox repeated to himself in a mantra in his mind.

_OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGod,_ JD said over and over again inside his head. _What is he doing?!_

Suddenly, Dr. Cox leaned forward that last few inches and captured JD's full lips in his. He felt JD stiffen, though, as if in shock, and he stiffened as well. _Oh, God. I was wrong. Jordan was lying to me, she wanted me to embarrass myself, and it worked, dear God it worked. He doesn't feel the same, he doesn't, he doesn't, and I've just done the most stupid thing I've ever done in my life. ShitshitshitDAMMIT!_

Dr. Cox pulled away a little, and JD's eyes widened further. _No!_ he thought, _No, no. Not now, please Perry please. _He followed Dr. Cox's lips desperately as they pulled away from his.

Dr. Cox very nearly could have collapsed from relief, had he been a lesser man, as he felt JD's lips meet his again and hope filled him. Even more hope when JD flicked his tongue across Dr. Cox's bottom lip tentatively, as if he thought Dr. Cox might bite it off.

Dr. Cox _didn't _bite it off, but he wasn't about to be the woman of the relationship, and take the kisses. He was the kisser, not the kissee. With that thought in mind, he shoved JD back into the wall, not hard enough to hurt too badly, and ignoring JD's confused and surprised squeak, he pushed his tongue into JD's quickly-turning-pliant mouth.

JD moaned, reached up to fill both of his hands with a fistful of Dr. Cox's hair, and yanked his head back a little, refusing to be the one that was _played with. _He yanked a little more roughly and lowered his mouth onto Dr. Cox's collarbone, nipping a little harder than he meant to, but encouraged when Dr. Cox groaned loudly. He licked the bite mark to sooth it, and proceeded to connect his lips with Dr. Cox's again, finally managing to take control of their first kiss.

_Holy Jesus, who knew the kid was so good at this?_ Dr. Cox still wasn't much into being handled by JD, but when JD bit him, hard, he couldn't help the groan that slipped from deep in his throat. _OhGodohGod. _And that was when he knew, as long as JD kept kissing him like this, he would be perfectly capable of acceptance of being the kissee. At least, for a few more seconds.

--

Outside the door, Carla squealed a little bit, then blushed as the sounds grew louder.

She barely noticed Elliot walking by in her daze, and didn't hear the blonde haired doctor saying, "What are you doing, Carla?" She only noticed Elliot's presence when the blue-eyed woman reached over her to open the door to the bodies of two men _very _into what they were doing.

Dr. Cox was quickly regaining control of the kiss, and a small smirk appeared on his face when JD whined his disappointment into his mouth at being the one who was handled. The two were flush against each other, and the older man was pushing the younger one into the wall, currently nipping lightly at his throat, marking him, as JD threw his head back. "_Woah. They are REALLY into it,_" Elliot thought.

So into it, in fact, that they didn't even notice that the door had opened and that quite a few women, flushed with excitement, had gathered outside the room to watch, until Elliot said, "Holy frick, JD, I forgive you for being such a horrible person! That is HOT!"

Then came a surprised and mortified squeak of "Elliot!" and a booming yell of, "Barbie! Get the hell out of here! You can't look at his giblets anymore! They're _mine_, you bird crap for brains voyeur!"

Carla and a few other of the nurses behind her simply tried to regain their breathing from the very sexy spectacle they'd just witnessed, until Carla shook herself out of her trance and said, "Uh, Elliot, maybe we should give them some privacy." With that, she shut the door, ignoring the disappointed groans of the women behind her.

Of course, JD and Dr. Cox got back to business. And it was hot.

--

**THE END**

--

**Yaaaaay! I am quite proud of myself! Even if the story isn't great, I still like that I've finished it. This is the first story I've ever made it through other than ones for my middle school english assignments. **=P

**Please tell me if you think the ending was too silly. I quite liked it, but if enough people have a problem with it I may change it up a bit.**

**Aw. I'm kind of sad it's over. My first fanfiction, ever. Awwww. -tears up- This one will always be my Baby-Fic. I will always love it. -sniffles-**

**Review, please! I love you all, by the way, and thank you for sticking with this story to the end! Mwah! Mwah! Lotsa love, dahlings, and some exes and ohhhs to all! =]**

**Please, don't forget to review! Buhbye now!**

**- Jess**


	6. Epilogue

Hey again, all. It had been months since I'd last written anything, but suddenly, this came to me. It's an epilogue for HDS, obviously, and I hope you all enjoy.

-- JessObsess, formerly known as J-Scrubs.

**Epilogue**

**--**

Perry has gone through a lot of stages in his life. He's blocked out most of the stages from his childhood, but there is one small memory he allows himself whenever some bright-eyed new intern has the balls to ask him why he became a doctor. Of course, Perry doesn't actually tell them the _truth_, and instead goes on about slightly pornographic films in which the doctor gets laid all the time, and "damn that false advertising".

Large-chested nurses and improper use of medicinal tools are not his actual reason for becoming a doctor, although the real story is not half as fun or entertaining. He remembers his big sister, Paige, sitting on a tree stump at the park near their childhood home. She's tiny, but he's even smaller, being only 7 years old. Paige's large blue eyes are shining with unshed tears as she chews her lip and pokes at a bloody scrape on her knee from when she fell on the way out of the house. (Daddy was home). Little Perry is kneeling in front of her with a piece of cloth he wet using the park's water fountain and a few beige Band-aids that he's learned to bring everywhere, just in case.

He's a lot scrawnier as a kid than he would like, with a wild head of red curls. It's the moment that he looks up at his big sister's face after dabbing the blood off of her knee that he decides that the wobbly smile she gives him in thanks is one that he wants to hold on to forever. A smile he'll get by helping people in need. And on that day, at seven and a half years old, Perry Cox decides he's going to become a doctor.

As far as the stages of his life go, some of the most prominent ones are the stages of his relationship with JD; leaving out the father figure-son stage, because that's just creepy. Perry can remember all of the difficult stages on the long path he took before finally becoming okay with his feelings for the boy. ("Feelings _in the pants_!" his inner JD pipes up, and Perry still grumbles a bit over the fact that he even _has_ an inner JD). Those times had been crazy for everyone, not least for Perry and JD themselves.

Then, after Perry and JD finally did get together, Perry went through the completely predictable "It's just sex, he's tighter than most and has some nice DSLs" stage. JD would later admit that he'd only put up with that particular stage for so long because the sex had been _totally awesome_.

After Perry was able to come to terms with wanting the kid for more than his adorable love-handles and the ability to make a single high-pitched moan shoot straight to his dick, he came across the always fun "Why the hell do I love this idiot?" stage, quickly followed by the "What the hell, I don't _love _him" stage, and finally came the "Aw, hell. I love him," stage. Those times had been pretty inconvenient, and the second explosion of denial in Perry's life may have led to him not being able to get a certain area to rise to the occasion, which led to JD suggesting Viagra like Perry is _old_ or something.

And _that_ may have led to Perry going all googly-eyed with rage, getting hard from sheer willpower alone, and pounding JD into the mattress so forcefully that the bed post chipped off some wallpaper. JD _may_ have limped around the hospital for days, pouting when Turk refused to speak with him about the reasons for said limp, but that's another story for another day.

Some time after the revelation-of-love stage came the "hey, so we should move in together" stage, which, as awkward as it would have been for Perry to admit his feelings and simply _ask_, actually went pretty smoothly. It was more like a mutual, silent agreement that, since they both had so little time off, they shouldn't be wasting it going back and forth between each other's apartments to have Sex Nights – or Date Nights as JD had once called them; Perry had ended that little notion pretty abruptly.

Gradually, JD had just ended up leaving more and more of his things over at Perry's; clothes, that creepy stuffed dog, and finally, the big one, the deal-sealer, a _mechanical toothbrush_. With _Simba_ on it.

As effortlessly as that particular stage has gone, it would be only fair that the next stage of their relationship would be a bad one. And it was, for Perry. JD affectionately refers to it these days as "Perry's Gruff and Manlyly Possessive Stage, Shut Up, Perry, Ad-adverbs Totally Make Sense". Perry, however, thinks of this era as "That Time Where Apparently the Entire Goddamn Universe Ran Out of Moderately Attractive People to Lust After and Everyone Started Going For Newbie Instead". It had started when Bob Kelso checked his very own flaming homosexual of a song into Sacred Heart with shortness of breath as the only symptom, and, _seriously_, get a freaking inhaler and leave! But no, stupid Harrison ("Harriette" or "HarriDAUGHTER" as Perry kindly deemed him) stuck around for an entire _day_, flirting with Newbie and complimenting his good choice in hair products, and generally being _nice_ to JD in a way that Perry never was.

Still, when Perry finally settled his arm around JD's waist at the end of the day and said loudly, "See you at home," squeezing JD's hip possessively, it was totally worth it to see Harrison's face and to have JD practically _maul_ him the second he got home, JD already half-hard and incredibly turned on by said possessiveness.

The most horrible stage of all would have to be when they were both overworked, overtired, and JD had had a patient come in with a failing liver. The patient didn't leave the hospital, and coming home to see Perry downing his scotch and watching a hockey game had been too much for JD to handle. He'd had a bad day, a bad week, even, and there was nothing he'd rather have seen less than Perry slowly killing himself like that patient. This may have been their "Huge Fight" stage, or "Break-Up" stage, or even their "Too Much Work Stress Causing Personal Lives to Explode" stage, but it began with JD grabbing the scotch bottle off of Perry's mini-bar and dumping it down the sink. The two had an explosive fight that made them glad Jack was at Jordan's, which ended with Perry telling JD to get the hell out and not to come back except to collect his "fucking girly shit".

After the break-up stage, there was, of course, the Moping Around stage, during which Perry avoiding JD for fear of breaking at the first glance of those big blue doe eyes, and avoiding Carla for fear of her Latina fury. JD dealt with their break-up by impregnating Dr. Kim Briggs, which Perry was a little bitter about even after the Make-Up stage, until the first time he saw JD holding little Sammy and all was forgiven.

Perry and JD have gone through their fair share of stages, good and bad, but when Perry is too exhausted and too relieved to be home after 32 hours at the hospital to bother worrying about being cheesy and sentimental, he lets himself think that if you added all of their stages together, it would equate to one simple, four-letter word.

**The End**

**LOOOOOVE. Ah-hem. So there you have it, a sappy, cheeseball epilogue! I couldn't bear to take Sammy away from JD, as you can see. **

**I hope you all enjoyed, much love and puppies and rainbows and unicorns and hot imaginary mansex to all!**


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